India’s gross GST collections rose 22.9% in October 2026 to Rs 2,31,290 crore, up from Rs 1,88,125 crore in October last year, according to provisional data released by the GST Network on Sunday, 1 November. Festive season buying and a sharp rise in tax on imports did most of the work.
It is the second highest monthly total on record, behind the roughly Rs 2.43 lakh crore collected in April, and the second month in a row above Rs 2 lakh crore, The Hindu reported. The paper also noted that 22.9% is the fastest growth seen in any month of this financial year.
Table of Contents
October GST collections at a glance
The official report breaks the gross figure into three parts. Central GST brought in Rs 42,935 crore, State GST Rs 51,340 crore and Integrated GST Rs 1,37,015 crore. The report does not list a separate cess line.
- Gross domestic revenue: Rs 1,59,044 crore, up 15.8%.
- Gross revenue from imports: Rs 72,246 crore, against Rs 50,796 crore a year ago, up 42.2%.
- Refunds: Rs 27,934 crore, up 6.5%. Domestic refunds rose 9.8% and import refunds 3.4%.
- Net GST revenue after refunds: Rs 2,03,356 crore, up 25.6%.
For the first seven months of the year, April to October, gross collections stand at Rs 14,77,569 crore, 13.2% more than in the same period of 2025. Net collections over those seven months come to Rs 12,69,486 crore, a rise of 12.6%. The GSTN note says all of these numbers are provisional and may change slightly once they are finalised.
Why the October number is so high
Two things stand out. The first is timing. October collections are based on business done in September, and the Times of India pointed out that September 2025 was a weak month because buyers held back purchases ahead of the lower GST rates that came into force on 22 September that year. That low base makes this year’s growth look bigger.
The second is imports. Tax on imported goods grew almost three times as fast as tax on domestic sales. Analysts quoted by the Times of India linked part of this to higher commodity prices. Manoj Mishra of Grant Thornton Bharat told The Economic Times that import collections can also move with the volume and value of goods brought in.
Still, the domestic number is not small. A 15.8% rise in tax on local sales points to strong spending during the festival months. MS Mani, a partner at Deloitte, told the Times of India that the data suggests “festival season consumption increases have started in a big way”, and that stricter compliance and more GST audits were also paying off.
Other signs of spending
Other October data points in the same direction, The Economic Times reported. Passenger car sales rose about 14% to a record of more than 525,000 units. Digital payments hit a record 25.47 billion transactions, worth Rs 31.53 lakh crore, according to National Payments Corporation of India figures cited by the paper. Power use climbed nearly 22%.
Surveys had hinted at this earlier, when India’s flash PMI for October showed business activity holding up.
The strong tax figures come at an awkward time for borrowers. Consumer inflation reached a 23 month high of 5.5% in September, and the Reserve Bank of India raised its repo rate by a quarter point to 5.5% last month, The Economic Times said. The next meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee is due from 2 to 4 December.
How the states did
Most states reported double digit growth in domestic GST collections in October, according to the state table in the GSTN report. Maharashtra remained the largest contributor with Rs 35,150 crore, up 13%. Karnataka collected Rs 15,922 crore (up 18%), Gujarat Rs 13,516 crore (up 16%), Tamil Nadu Rs 11,661 crore (up 3%) and Haryana Rs 11,529 crore (up 17%). Uttar Pradesh rose 24% to Rs 10,235 crore,. Readers can find more on the state at the top of the table in our guide to Maharashtra’s economy and history.
Some of the fastest growth came from smaller and eastern states. Assam was up 47%, Meghalaya 35%, Jharkhand 31% and Madhya Pradesh 29%. A handful of states and union territories went the other way. Himachal Pradesh slipped 2%, Puducherry 7%, Ladakh 20% and Sikkim 28%.
The report also lists State GST revenue after the settlement of Integrated GST between the Centre and the states. On that measure, the Times of India reported, Meghalaya (32%) and Himachal Pradesh (30%) led the growth table, while Jharkhand, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh did not show an increase. The two tables measure different things, so the rankings do not match.
What tax experts said
“The focus now should be on sustaining domestic revenue growth and ensuring that the benefits of GST 2.0 translate into stronger compliance, smoother input tax credit flows and faster refunds for businesses,” Mishra said, as quoted by The Hindu. He told the Times of India the bigger test is whether the momentum lasts beyond the festive season.
Abhishek Jain of KPMG in India said the October numbers “provide a positive signal for revenue mobilisation and reinforce the growing maturity of India’s GST framework”, according to The Economic Times. Mahesh Jaising of Deloitte told The Hindu that steady revenue growth, despite the rate cuts of last year, was giving the GST Council room to keep reforming the tax. That fits with the recent push to ease compliance, including the Council’s decision to scrap arrest powers and raise the prosecution threshold to Rs 5 crore.
The Times of India said current trends suggest the Centre will beat its GST target for the year. Business Standard carried the same headline figures.
November figures, due on 1 December, will show how much of October’s jump came from festival shopping and how much from a low base last year.
Featured image photo: RioRiyoRio, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. It is a representative photo of shoppers and vegetable sellers at the Chickpet Sabzi Mandi in Bengaluru and does not show any person or business named in this report.
FAQ
How much GST was collected in October 2026?
Gross GST collections were Rs 2,31,290 crore, up 22.9% from a year earlier. Net revenue after refunds was Rs 2,03,356 crore.
Is this a record?
No. It is the second highest month so far, after April 2026, when about Rs 2.43 lakh crore was collected, The Hindu reported.
Which state collected the most GST in October?
Maharashtra, with Rs 35,150 crore in domestic GST, up 13%, according to the GSTN report.
Sources
- GST Network, GST revenue report for October 2026 (provisional), 1 November 2026: gross, net, refund, import and state figures.
- The Hindu, 1 November 2026: second highest month, comparison with April, expert comments.
- The Economic Times, 2 November 2026: car sales, digital payments, power use, inflation, repo rate, expert comments.
- The Times of India, 2 November 2026: base effect, post settlement State GST growth, MS Mani and Grant Thornton comments.
- Business Standard, 1 November 2026: headline figures (PTI).